After Copenhagen

After Copenhagen: On being sadder but wiser, China, and justice as the way forward

It’s been a while since Copenhagen, but not too long, perhaps, to send out another reflection on its significance. So here’s After Copenhagen, wherein Tom Athanasiou spends most of his time considering Copenhagen as a turning point for the climate justice movement, and replying to the new vogue for China bashing. Mark Lynas in particular.

Note, if you’ve seen an earlier version of After Copenhagen, that its comparison of US and Chinese pledges has been reviewed and strengthened. This is definitely not “apples and oranges.”

Also, After Copenhagen has a few things to say about emissions trajectories, both the “G8 style” trajectory that didn’t make it into the Copenhagen Accord (a fact we probably shouldn’t mourn) and the 350 ppm trajectory that, in Copenhagen, seemed to supplant the 2C temperature target as the mark and measure of true climate stabilization. For that reason, and apologies if you’ve already seen it, here’s a pointer to the pre-Copenhagen analysis of 350 — A 350 emergency pathway — that we (the Greenhouse Development Rights team) did just before Copenhagen.